Tag Archives: VC Community

Today is my last day at Berrien RESA as an Instructional Technology Consultant. I have accepted a position as Associate Dean for Higher Education in the School of Distance Education at Andrews University (also here in Berrien Springs, MI) starting tomorrow!

I will be moving my blog over to http://blog.janinelim.com so that I can blog about a broader set of distance technologies: including videoconferencing, online learning, blended learning, and webinars / webconferencing. Soon, I’ll tell you more about my new job on that blog. There’s nothing there yet! Still have a bit of set up to do. I’ll let you know here when it’s ready for subscriptions.

But today, I’d like to thank all of you, my readers, for your great comments, input, and feedback over the 6+ years that I’ve blogged about videoconferencing. It’s been such a great learning journey and a great continuous conversation! I hope that you will continue the conversation with me on my new blog!

What will happen to VC Out on a Lim?

This blog is hosted on WordPress.com, and so will be here “forever” as vcoutonalim.wordpress.com for sure, and for another year or two as vcoutonalim.org.

I am also hoping to make an index to this blog sometime in the next month or two so it’s easier for you to find the information that is buried here. So watch for another post with that!

Scott Sherrill, our programmer for CAPspace will continue to improve the site. There are still many improvements we want to make to CAPspace!

Max Graves will take over the coordination of the TWICE Verification Partners.

The TWICE ASK committee has taken over the management of all the ASK programs, and billing will come from TWICE instead of Berrien RESA.

What about MysteryQuests?

The MysteryQuest and HistoryQuest sessions I’ve been running have been bequeathed by Berrien RESA to Whirlidurb, an excellent curriculum videoconferencing services provider. Roxanne Glaser, Content Director, is the best multipoint facilitator I’ve ever known, and she has assisted with materials development and facilitation slides for my Quests since 2007. In addition, Whirlidurb has the bridging capabilities (thanks to super bridge dude Shane Howard) to continue this project with a high level of quality for your experience.

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The TWICE board has been meeting over videoconference since we started in 2001. The “Jazz workshop” leadership have always met over videoconferencing since it started in 2005.

So it’s a little amusing to me to read articles like this one from the Wall Street Journal. (Unfortunately I’m a little slow in blogging this 4/25/11 article, so you can only read the full article with a subscription now.)

As videoconferencing technology becomes more sophisticated, it is slowly moving up the corporate ladder to the boardroom.

In the article, board of director concerns with videoconferencing were listed while also describing the growing use of VC:

people feeling “at a distance”

people getting less involved over VC than they would face to face

lack of ability to have side conversations

You may think of additional issues from your experience.

On the TWICE board, we have tried to bridge the distance in a variety of ways:

Side conversations with a back channel chat tool such as Skype

A “roundtable” section at the end of the agenda for people to share their projects, programs, ideas, questions, issues

People make appointments with each other after the meeting for further conversation or switch to the phone after the VC

The chair of the meeting with call specifically on people who haven’t commented recently

We use the split screen to have everyone seen

We use thumbs up or similar gestures for voting or getting attention or requesting the floor

We meet TWICE a year face to face

We try to be deliberate about collaborating and connecting with each other outside of the official board meetings

What tips would you add for making videoconference board meetings more effective?

Here’s a snippet from Roxanne Glaser, Lead Pirate and Planner of this amazing experience:

Work has begun on the Video Conference Playground at ISTE 2011. Last year, I led a band of pirates as we shared our passion for video conferencing with others in Denver. Here are some of the pictures from last summer.This year, in Philly, the playground will be even bigger with more connections and equipment for you to learn about in a fun, hands-on environment.

We are looking for more people to help us create an exceptional learning experience for attendees who want to learn more about the power of video conferencing in the curriculum.

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Wow! Today is the 6th anniversary of this blog! Thank you to all the readers for your comments, partnerships, and collaborations over the years!

Been pretty busy with VCs the last two months, so it’s been a little quiet around here. I apologize for that. But here are some links and posts to consider today:

Read Around the Planet in the News

Did you know this year was the 10th anniversary of Read Around the Planet / Read Across America celebrations via videoconferencing through TWICE? Here are some blogs and news articles from RAP this year:

Work has begun on the Video Conference Playground at ISTE 2011. Last year, I led a band of pirates as we shared our passion for video conferencing with others in Denver. Here are some of the pictures from last summer.This year, in Philly, the playground will be even bigger with more connections and equipment for you to learn about in a fun, hands-on environment.

We are looking for more people to help us create an exceptional learning experience for attendees who want to learn more about the power of video conferencing in the curriculum.

You can see from this list, that the largest number of subscribers were on the Collaboration Collage listserv. When I first got started with videoconferencing in 1999-2000, I remember how much I learned on that listserv.

People discussed technical issues

Ideas were shared for providing support

People advertised content provider programs and collaborations

I remember Dan Gross’ particularly long and detailed posts to the listserv. I learned so much from those messages!

In September 2010, the Collaboration Collage listserv closed down. I don’t know if anyone else feels the loss, but I feel so sad that we may have lost contact with those 2300 people!

The K12 IVC Listserv

This listserv was born out of the 2002 K12 National Symposium of Interactive Videoconferencing. From that symposium, a listserv was created, along with a literature review, and a website with case studies. Since funding was cut for the Regional Educational Technology research organizations, these resources have all gone offline.

Thankfully CILC offered to take over this listserv and so it still exists. You can sign up here. Here’s why you should be on it:

It’s the last remaining place to post live real-time posted (unmoderated) announcements for K12 videoconferencing nationally and internationally.

It’s the last email place to discuss any issues or ask questions.

It’s the easiest one stop place for graduate students to ask research questions about videoconferencing. We all want research on videoconferencing, but we need to make it easy for research to be done!

Content providers need a place to send announcements about their programs.

But… are listservs dead?

You might be thinking that listservs are a thing of the past. It’s true that some functions of the videoconferencing listservs are no longer occurring on a listserv:

How do we get research surveys on videoconferencing out to a large audience? How does a graduate student access the K12 videoconferencing community for research?

How do content providers advertise their programs to a wide audience? What if they want to advertise beyond just the “new” advertising that comes from VCcontentproviders.org and CILC.org? Established providers have their own email lists, but what about the new providers?

Can you think of others?

The K12 IVC Listserv

So, don’t you agree?! People interested in videoconferencing need to be on the K12 IVC Listserv! I am super grateful that CILC has hosted it and left it unmoderated. We need access to each other! This listserv seems to be the main way to do that.

What do YOU think? Are listservs dead? How should researchers and content providers get access to K12 videoconferencing educators??

There are a plethora of resources to enhance learning with students with videoconferencing. Why haven’t I used these resources before? Fear of technology is the response. However, after this workshop, my perception has been changed. It is easy to use the equipment and find a videoconference appropriate for your classroom.

I came into this class very apprehensive about videoconferencing. I wasn’t sure I could run the equipment and felt it was going to be over my head. However, I feel I have grown so much as a VC newbie! I feel comfortable looking for programs, filling out registration forms, and confident in my ability to be a leader in our building. I am really excited about sharing this information with our school through a staff meeting or allowing teachers to come in and observe during a videoconference.

How do we help teachers move past their fear?

Give them the remote!

Let them play with it!!

Give them short, easy cheatsheets and let them practice in a non-threatening environment (i.e. first when they aren’t in front of kids!)

Help them see how easy it us!

What do you think? Do you agree? How do you reduce the fear for your teachers?